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Friday, March 29, 2024

Fort McCoy resident encourages senior citizens to make their voices heard

To the Editor:

Senior citizens are usually the last thought on the minds of government officials, and have been getting the brush-off and runaround for far too long.

As an example, I recently contacted Congresswoman Kat Cammack’s Gainesville office and spoke to an assistant regarding concerns over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) threshold for seniors on fixed incomes, which is too low considering they often have much higher medical expenses.

I quickly got the “not her department” reply because states administer the funds – that are allocated to them by the USDA (a federal agency) – and I would have to speak to my state representative. Silly me for thinking a federal legislator could introduce a bill that puts conditions on state use of federal funds, as is done with federal education funding, for instance.

When I explained that to a woman in her D.C. office, she listened and gave lip service until she was obviously tired of doing so, and ended the call with, “Yeah, yeah, I got it.”

If this is what we’re willing to settle for, then we deserve what we will get: nothing.

These are public servants who have forgotten who the real boss is supposed to be. It’s time to fire those in 2022 who don’t represent our interests.

Florida has a lot of seniors who can make a difference next year. Show them we count. If you like your representative, you can keep him or her. Otherwise, demand change and throw them out.

Steven Thompson
Fort McCoy

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